The Securities and Exchange Commission’s deputy chief accountant issued a reminder to public companies that the responsibility for ensuring auditor independence doesn’t only fall on the shoulders of the auditor—audit committees also need to step up to the plate.
Reminding listeners that, “management, the audit committee and the auditors are responsible for independence,” SEC Deputy Chief Accountant Andrew D. Bailey Jr. advised auditors and registrants at a conference last week in New York that the Commission is “placing more reliance on audit committee judgments.”
